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One in five employment insurance subscribers in Korea has been found to belong to an occupational group with high exposure to artificial intelligence (AI). Among all occupations, lawyers recorded the highest level of AI exposure.

The Korea Employment Information Service (KEIS) announced on August 31 that it had published the Summer 2026 issue of Employment Issues, which contains these findings. Yoon Jung-hye, head of the Employment Trends Analysis Team at KEIS, calculated the degree of AI exposure for 415 occupations under the detailed categories of the Korean Employment Classification of Occupations, using data from the 2025 Korean Occupational Information Network survey of incumbent workers and the Employment Insurance database.

The occupations with the highest AI exposure were lawyers, legal clerical workers, patent attorneys, life science testing technicians, and accountants, in that order. These occupations are characterized by core tasks such as text interpretation and quantitative data analysis.

By contrast, occupations with low AI exposure included plating and metal spraying machine operators, plasterers, rice cake production workers, meat processing workers and slaughterers, and waterproofing workers. These occupations were concentrated in on-site production, construction, and skilled trades where physical activity is essential.

An analysis of AI exposure among employment insurance subscribers showed that, as of 2025, 2.916 million out of 15.275 million subscribers, or 19.1%, were employed in occupations classified as highly exposed to AI.

The average age of workers in the high AI exposure group was 40.2, lower than the overall average age of employment insurance subscribers, which was 45.7. The proportions of young workers and workers in their 30s were relatively high. In particular, among workers in their 30s, occupations with medium or high AI exposure accounted for more than half, at 53.1%.

By industry, AI exposure was relatively high in knowledge-intensive sectors such as professional, scientific and technical services, information and communications, and finance and insurance. In the information and communications sector in particular, more than 55% of all employment insurance subscribers belonged to the high AI exposure group.

In contrast, industries such as accommodation and food services, health and social work services, and construction had a high proportion of occupations with little or no AI exposure, indicating considerable differences in AI exposure across industries.

The researchers cautioned, however, that the recent slowdown in employment should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that AI is replacing jobs. Since 2023, when the use of AI began to expand substantially, the number of new employment insurance subscribers has declined across all occupations regardless of their level of AI exposure. Yoon explained: 

“When we decomposed the growth rate of employment insurance subscribers by contributing factor, we found that the recent employment slowdown has been driven more by labor-supply factors, such as the decline in the youth population and changes in the labor-force participation rate, than by the direct job-replacement effects of AI.”

Reporter: Eo Go-eun  Published: September 1, 2026, 6:30 a.m.  Email: ago@labortoday.co.kr

Source: Maeil Labor News (Labor Today)